This panel from
the late 1700s or early 1800s was probably part of an ornament that hung from a
person’s back. It was collected in 1890 from Ek-wah-satch, an Anishinaabe of
Baptiste Lake. It had belonged to his grandfather from Georgian Bay. Such
panels are made from dozens of fine hide strips, bound together with dyed
porcupine quills. Depicted is a sacred thunderbird with zigzags that perhaps
represent lightning produced by the blinking of its eyes.